Get in touch

Editorial contacts

Ask a question

Get support

Story idea?

Everything else

LONG BLOG

Time to start up a list of conspiracy theories as to the significance of the eleventh issue since the Tribune’s return appearing on 9-11! Because everything that happens on any September 11th these days is historically significant! Riiight? Or, barring that, you could just read up on this week’s oddball gaming news:

---------

Just in case anyone was still wondering, after some confusion about the release date Raiden IV DID finally come out this past week at 40 dollars, and a soundtrack CD is indeed packaged with it. Gamestop pre-order copies (if memory serves, though some “normal” ones might have it as well) have a code printed on the soundtrack that can be entered online to download a PDF document with some artwork and extra information on it (though it’s probably already been uploaded someplace).

While the front page has just recently gotten wind of King of Fighters Sky Stage, which the Tribune first covered quite a few issues ago, Famitsu has a few new screenshots and a bit of artwork to view at this location. Boy, it’s looking more like Shikigami no Shiro every time I see it…

DToid’s right on top of the latest Space Invaders Extreme 2 news, though, as you can check out a group of screens as well as some info on the game’s European release date (not too long after we in the US get it, thankfully) if you click here.

Unconfirmed rumor ahoy: it’s been announced that a “shooting game” based on Strike Witches is coming to the 360, but nobody seems sure yet as to whether it’s a shmup or some other type of shooter. Stay tuned for more on this one…

If you kept up with the recent “Dream Build Play” competition you might have heard of Duality ZF, a shmup entry that ended up in seventh place. It’s been announced that the game will be coming to XBLA – final pricing hasn’t been set, but currently it looks like 400 points is the most likely outcome, which looks like a pretty good deal for a game with so many different modes and whatnot to play around with (check the trailer at the link above for a rundown).

The iPhone-enabled might be interested to know that Kenta Cho shooter Tumiki Fighters is headed their way, and will retail for a princely 99 cents. If you enjoyed Blast Works on the Wii but would prefer to play it in portable form, now’s your chance.

One of the new characters to appear in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has been revealed – filling up the first empty slot on the Tatsunoko side, it’s Tekkaman Blade! The rest of the new gang are set to be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show, though there are already indications of who to expect…

Those of you who (like me) weren’t there to see them live at PAX might want to check out a pair of trailers for Tekken 6 on the front page, one of which shows a beat-em-up-esque “Campaign Mode”. I’m always a bit tentative about those sorts of offshoots, but Tekken certainly isn’t the first to include one, so somebody out there must like ‘em…

An enterprising pixel editor has cooked up some sprite-based renditions of certain Street Fighter IV characters, with more hopefully on the way. Credit goes to Joystiq for the original link.

Some more information has emerged about Persona 3 Portable – aside from the already-revealed inclusion of the ability to directly control teammates, another addition from Persona 4 is the possibility that an ally will take a fatal blow for you. There’s also word of a new search-and-rescue quest; oh, and Elizabeth’s stand-in is named Theodore (“Theo” for short).You can also check here for additional details about how school works, as well as 3 new videos, one of which shows the female protagonist’s first evoker encounter – the front page also has the cover art and a few additional images. One bit of bad news though – while the release date for the UMD version is unchanged, the downloadable release has been delayed until October 1st, no doubt to coincide with that of the PSP Go.

If even more Persona media sounds good to you, check the recently-updated official site for new wallpapers and such. Colette also directs us to some impressive Persona 4cosplay, while unang’s blog has the last part of the Persona 3 audio drama accompanied by illustrations, the latter of which are worth the visit by themselves. Finally, over on the forums I was linked to a spoiler-rifficPersona 4 fan image that I hadn’t seen before, and figured I might as well add it in case you hadn’t either.

NIS isn’t done with us yet – Disgaea Infinite has been announced, though there’s currently some confusion as to which system it’ll appear on, as well as scant information on the exact nature of the title. More info should be revealed at TGS (DToid coverage here)…also, some impressions of the new “Axel Mode” in Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days have been posted, if you’re interested in seeing what awaits therein.

European Gust fans rejoice – it’s been revealed that NIS Europe is working on localizing Atelier Rorona for the PS3! Still waiting for word from the American branch on this side of the pond…

Some of you might have heard that Square is developing a game called Gyromancer, but not much else – well, judging by what the ESRB has to say about it, the bugger sounds like some sort of puzzle game with RPG elements. If this is the case the company’s a little late to the party, but maybe it’ll still be worthwhile…

Thanks to the front page, we now know what last issue’s “what goes around comes around” hint meant – as was expected by many, it seems that the last batch of Valkyria Chronicles DLC from Japan is headed our way sometime over this coming winter. Oh, and by the way, yes Virginia, there ARE actual gameplay clips of Valkyria Chronicles 2! And moreover they don’t look half bad. (DToid coverage here.

By the time you read this the first of two demos for Half-Minute Hero should be available, so if you’re curious be sure to give it a try – no current word on when the second one will hit, but in the meantime you can preorder the title if you’re so inclined, as it appears set to release on October 20th. (DToid coverage here and here.)

Another shipment of 3D Dot Game Heroes images has landed, as well as some additional information on the game’s character creation system and a cameo by the hero of Spelunker.

A small update on Yggdra Unison for the DS – the game’s Japanese release date will be December 3rd, though there’s no word yet on possible localization.

Also a small note on the upcoming Lunar PSP port – it looks like XSeed is aiming to retranslate the game instead of re-using the Working Designs script from back in the day. Obviously your thoughts on this will depend on how much you enjoyed the latter company’s style from the ‘90s…

It took even me a while to notice, but according to Gamestop, Laevatein Tactics, which was originally dated to debut earlier this month, has been moved to the 29th – moreover, the sucker now has a pre-order artbook attached to it! Like the corresponding Blazblue bonus, however, it’s not available in-store and only comes with online reserves.

To finish up this sub-section, those of you who are particularly tired of genre clichés might want to join Lady Colette in keeping an eye on this project.

If you’re still looking for more info and impressions regarding Muramasa: The Demon Blade, there’s a sizable write-up about the combat system and a few other things at this link.

Topher’s reign of awesomeness on the front page continues, as he’s got a new trailer for Okamiden up this time. Keep the streak going, good sir!

A short note on Fragile for the Wii – at this point it looks “likely” that both English and Japanese voice tracks will be present when the game comes our way, so keep your fingers crossed that this does come to pass. The same link also mentions an upcoming flight combat game I hadn’t heard of before, called Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces – I’m not personally big on the genre, but if you are, by all means take a look. …huh? Oh, right, I forgot to actually post the link. (DToid coverage here.)

While the Tribune reported some time ago that the poorly-received PSP port of Umihara Kawase Shun wouldn’t be making it to the US, work on the DS version in Japan continues, and some new videos are available. The news item also confirms that the game will finally see daylight sometime next month, as well as the fact that the original Super Famicom Umihara Kawase will be included on the cart as well! Doesn’t sound like too bad a deal for puzzle/platformer fans.

Our ol’ pal Lucasarts just announced Lucidity for XBLA, which looks like a cross between Lemmings and Tetris, as you place a sequence of pieces onto a side-scrolling stage for a constantly-moving character to use as platforms, springboards, and so on. Of course, it’s also got the whole “artsy” thing going on in terms of presentation, but you probably could have already guessed that. (DToid coverage here.)

In case you haven’t played it yet, Braid is now five bucks on Steam. Yeah, that’s all I can think to say about it.

Diverse, in the meantime, returns to making me happy by highlighting Solar Plexus, a nifty-looking indie puzzle-platformer that unfortunately won’t be finished by the creator, but can still be downloaded and played in its current, incomplete form. If you’ve got a little time, give it a go and see what might have been.

I’m way late on this, but I’ll still post it anyway. Fellow blogger Monodi recently contributed some musings on Henry Hatsworth for the DS; while the piece is certainly worth reading, I was most intrigued by the art gallery he linked to, which includes some designs that didn’t make it into the final game. Your fellow Pompous Adventurer thanks you for said link, old bean!

For this month’s “silly video” feature, if you haven’t seen Don’t Copy That Floppy 2, take a few minutes, as it really should be a requirement for every gamer (whether for the message or teh lulz is up to you).

Last but not least, in case you hadn’t noticed, this month’s “Musing” theme, “The Forgotten”, lends itself rather well to write-ups on obscure games, so hopefully I’ll be seeing some from the Tribune’s readers! Of course, in my case coming up with something unknown even for MY standards is gonna take some doing…

---------

That’s all for now – until next time, thanks as always for reading and keep gaming obscurely.

Three day old threads are only visible to verified humans - this helps our small community management team stay on top of spam

Sorry for the extra step!

About BulletMagnetone of us since 9:04 PM on 10.04.2008

Thanks kindly for paying my blog a visit.

I'm currently looking for paid writing gigs, so if you might want anything written shoot me a message (craighats at hotmail dot com).

In case the contents of this blog don't make it obvious enough, I have something of an affinity for slightly "offbeat" titles, so if there's something out there that few others cover, there's a fair chance I'm at least somewhat up on it.

If there's any sort of (reasonable) inquiry you'd like me to address, please don't hesitate to be in touch.

Below are a handful of recaps and other links (oldest listed first by section), in case you're interested - asterisks mark promoted articles.